Wood Textures

Timbers come to Life with a variety of surface textures.

Rough Sawn Beams are just as they come out of the sawmill. Their texture depends on the type of mill. A circular saw mill will give round blade marks to the timbers, while a band saw mill will have straight, slightly smoother marks.

Planed Smooth Timbers are S4S (surfaced four sides) and are smooth to the touch. We often give their edges a 1/2″ chamfer (bevel) to dress them up.

Semi-Sanded Timbers come from the mill rough sawn, then we sand them a bit to take the fuzzy texture off while leaving a bit of character on the surface. They take stain beautifully and end up looking antique and distressed. There is extra labor involved, so the cost is higher than S4S or rough sawn.

Hand Hewn Timbers are made to look like antique barn beams. We hew them the old fashioned way – with an adze and a slick for a authentic look. Often, these beams are referred to as “rough hewn”. The hewing is labor intensive. While it is beautiful, it does add to the cost.

Rough Hewn Antique Timber is reclaimed from old mill buildings and barns. It is very beautiful, but also very expensive to buy and time consuming to properly fit, so it is the most expensive option.

Weathered Wood Beams look great and are an inexpensive way to achieve an antique look. All we need is a few months of extra time. We buy the timbers rough sawn, then spread them out in the field behind our shop. We roll them once every couple of days and let nature do its work. In a couple of months the beams take on the silver patina of old barn boards and are ready to be made into a beautiful new timber frame that looks old.